The Davenport City Council has a recommendation in front of it to negotiate with Ingenus.
That's the company that has proposed building new casinos along the interstate and in downtown Davenport.
Ingenus wants to use a local company to develop those casinos that was the number one delinquent tax payer in Rock Island County hours ago.
Financial District Properties owed at least 170-thousand dollars in back taxes to Rock Island County.
That number is based on our analysis of unpaid property tax data over the last year.
A Facebook comment pointed out that FDP is listed as the developer for the Ingenus casino proposal.
So we asked Davenport if it knew about the back taxes.
Alderman Jeff Justin sits on the city's casino negotiation committee. He says he did not know about the back taxes.
"That certainly goes to credibility, but then again I don't know the background."
Justin says the City isn't at that point in its casino research.
"Looking into the Isle of Capri, their operations and their financial, basically getting the final purchase agreement for their assets."
Documents Ingenus submitted to Davenport show FDP is its choice to handle the development aspects of a new casino if its full proposal is picked. FDP has a signed "option to buy" contract for the land along the interstate. It would also be responsible for financing the deal. The City still has to sign an agreement with both groups. Justin says that won't happen until the City completes its due diligence on all aspects of the proposal, including issues with back taxes.
"Take a look at that and the reasons behind that, there could be any number of reasons why that might occur," says Justin.
FDP paid nearly 418-thousand dollars in back taxes to Rock Island County Tuesday. Paying off back taxes going back three years. We reached company manager Rodney Blackwell by phone, but he was too sick to do an interview. A call to Ingenus was not returned. Alderman Justin says regardless of TV 6 findings, the City will take a deep look before signing any development agreement.
"That's when our consultants will look into this, hey I heard this, that's when we really get down to the specifics, as to the performance factors of the potential developer," says Justin.
The next step in the casino process...
The Riverboat Development Authority could recommend a developer at its meeting Wednesday morning.
Monday, the Davenport Community Improvement Corporation recommended an interstate casino.
Council is having a special meeting Wednesday evening to possibly pick a developer to negotiate with.
Last week the proposals were narrowed down to two, Restoration St. Louis and Ingenus management.
